There’s… really no other way to say this. Nintendo Power, one of the oldest running gaming magazines and probably one of the first magazines some of you out there subscribed to, is stopping the printers and ceasing production. Ars Technica reports that Future Publishing, who took over publication from Nintendo back in 2007, would not renew its contract with Nintendo, nor would Nintendo themselves. Future hinted to Nintendo that digital was the way to go since many are getting their news online. However Nintendo didn’t see it that way, and now Nintendo Power is paying the price. Other magazines, like @Gamer, Xbox Magazine, Playstation Magazine, and Game Informer have digital versions of their magazines available. However some, like EGM and Gamepro, died out even with those initiatives, only to come back to lukewarm reception or with production greatly diminished.

Hearing this news, I think back to more recently when I thought that the console specific magazines would still live. I mean, the mags that fell were the independent ones, not the ones tied to a First Party — They would be funded after all. I guess I was wrong. Any magazine can fall now. At the moment not much is known when the last issue will be shipped. I’ll do some memory articles later on or leave it to a podcast topic.

Source: Nintendo Power magazine to cease publication (updated) [Ars Technica]